Paddy Pimblett would take a Justin Gaethje rematch before Ilia Topuria: 'Justin's got the belt'

Pimblett, beaten by Gaethje before Gaethje won the lightweight title against Topuria, says he would shoot for a takedown in the first 10 seconds if they fought again.

Paddy Pimblett says he would take a rematch with Justin Gaethje before a fight with Ilia Topuria, because Gaethje holds the UFC lightweight title.

"I'd take a rematch with Gaethje before Ilia because I want to be a world champion. Like, I hate Ilia, don't get me wrong," Pimblett told Jeremy Piven on the How U Livin J Piven podcast. "Obviously I'd rather beat Ilia than beat Justin, but Justin's got the belt, and that's what we do it for."

Gaethje beat Pimblett, then won the undisputed lightweight title against Topuria at UFC White House in June. Pimblett has since beaten Benoit Saint-Denis. No fight has been announced for Pimblett against either man.

Pimblett said he let his ego get in the way in the first fight, which he called the first main event on the UFC's new Paramount deal. "I wanted to knock him out. I wanted to show everyone that I could knock him out," he said. In a rematch, he would wrestle: "If I fought him again, I'd shoot him in the first 10 seconds, put him on his back, and choke his ass out."

He also said size would count against Topuria. "I wasn't much bigger than Justin, like, but I was bigger than Justin," Pimblett said. "And Justin made Ilia look small, so just imagine how big I'd be compared to him."

Pimblett said he can see Gaethje fighting again. "I can see him fighting Arman, and I'd love to see him batter Arman," he said. Arman Tsarukyan has said Gaethje is "trying to duck" him, and that the UFC will give him an answer at the end of November.

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